Pocket RTA Professional from 4Pockets

Pocket RTA Pro is a real-time spectrum analyser for your Pocket PC. I like RTAs, and this one is particularly fully functional.

PocketRTA samples sounds picked up by the built-in microphone on the Pocket PC and then applies a Fourier Transform to the samples to obtain a frequency spectrum. The result is an accurate representation of the sampled sound broken down into its frequency components.

PocketRTA gives total control over input sample rate and FFT length, so you can tailor the display to your needs. Sample rates up to 44Khz allow frequencies of up to 22Khz to be measured. Various display modes include, linear narrow band, logarithmic narrow band, Octave, 1/3 Octave, 1/6 Octave, Sample, SPL and Spectrogram displays with ANSI A and C weighting curves. PocketRTA allows real-time magnification (up to 250 times) of a selected frequency range. The touch screen allows selection of the nearest FFT point giving a display of it”s frequency and decibel level. Up to 64 times averaging and variable decay settings allow more stable readings for fluctuating or unstable input signals whilst our unique noise cancellation system allows you to remove unwanted background noise.

New Features of the Professional Edition:

PocketRTA Pro features the ability to calibrate the display using a 1/3 Octave display in order to compensate for imperfections in frequency response of the internal microphone.

Another new feature is the ability to capture any input signal and overlay it as a reference for a live signal. Captured traces can be saved and later loaded as a reference or exported to ASCII text for use in packages such as Microsoft Excel. You can even take snapshots of the screen which are saved in BMP format.

PocketRTA Pro also introduces a Compare / Transfer mode which allows you to compare a captured input signal against a live trace. The difference between the two traces are displayed using a 0dB reference point making it ideal for calibrating EQ”s. A smoothing option has also been added (wide band averaging) to remove unwanted spikes and make the display more readable.

Another new feature is the ability to capture a peak trace over time. Again this can be saved or exported for use in external packages.

I’ve not had a chance to play with this as yet, but it looks like one of the most rounded RTA apps I’ve seen so far. At some point I will get around to trying it out and then I’ll post a review.